Signage alert: Shifka on the Bowery

The storefront at 324 Bowery, near Bleecker (next door to Think Coffee), has its windows papered with Shifka signage.

 "The One Stop Pita Shop" is from the team operating Sami & Susu, the Mediterranean-inspired wine bar on Orchard between Houston and Stanton. There, owners Amir Nathan and Jordan Anderson started offering various pitas, which became popular enough to open a spin-off space. 

Grub Street had this to say in its Fall Restaurant Preview...

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No. 324 was most recently an unlicensed smoke shop.

A new barber shop for Avenue A

Photo by Stacie Joy 

 

Coming soon signage for a barber shop along 58-72 Avenue A arrived this past Friday afternoon. 

There are currently five vacant spaces in this block-long residential building (aka Untitled) between Fourth Street. 

The storefront next to the corner liquor store has been vacant since the lottery shop closed before the pandemic. During renovations here in February 2023, workers uncovered ghost signage for a long-ago shop that sold carriages, strollers and toys. 

The barber shop joins Mast Books, March Gallery and the liquor store as the retail tenants of No. 58-72. 

A private-equity firm purchased the building from the longtime owners in an off-market deal in the fall of 2022.

Summer's parting shots

Last day of summer... and some scenes from Tompkins Square Park this past week...

A new in-ground pool is in the works for Tompkins, but no one knows when. Was this the last summer for the mini pool?

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg).

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• 'Samo' story: Real-life Al Diaz shut out of new Basquiat biopic (Tuesday, Sept.16) … About 'Samo Lives,' the Basquiat biopic now filming in the East Village (Monday, Sept. 15) 

• Magic and loss on St. Mark's Place: Invader's classic Lou Reed mosaic stolen (Tuesday, Sept. 16) … The Lou Reed Mosaic Bandit of St. Mark's returns (Friday, Sept. 19) 

• A look at the newly opened East River Park from the Corlears Hook pedestrian bridge (Monday, Sept. 15)

• Community gardens take center stage during 14th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival (Friday, Sept. 19) 

• Bunny's Dub Club brought old-school vibes to the East Village (Thursday, Sept. 18) 

• These are the set times for the CBGB Festival on Sept. 27 (Wednesday, Sept. 17) 

• Gloves on: Pitch in during Community Stewardship days underway at East River Park (Wednesday, Sept. 17) 

• Bands we like: Puzzled Panther — plus Crazy & the Brains and Nabihah Iqbal (Sunday, Sept. 14) 

• Once a garage, now a rising condoplex on 9th Street (Wednesday, Sept 17) 

• Key Food painting gets scooped up — by a member of the Key Food family (Friday, Sept. 19)

• The Marshal takes legal possession of Casa Bond on the Bowery (Thursday, Sept. 18) 

• Openings: H Art on 3rd Avenue (Thursday, Sept. 18) 

• Signage alert: M&M Bagels on 1st Avenue (Wednesday, Sept. 17) 

• Closings: Vivi Bubble Tea on 3rd Avenue (Monday, Sept. 15)

... and a lot of readers mentioned that The Best Damn Breakfast Burrito is expected to open this coming week at 345 E. 12th St. just west of First Avenue. (Follow the brand's Insta for updates.) We had the signage alert back in March.

Did you catch the fireworks last night?

The bursts started around 8:45 p.m., setting off plenty of questions (and alarms) as the sounds pierced the night air.

Turns out, according to Google Gemini, the display came from 74Wythe, the hospitality venue across the river in Williamsburg.

Still, jangly nerves being what they are these days, one EVG reader said the whole thing "sounded really creepy."

Thanks to the EVG reader for the pic.

Today in The Clash music history

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The Palidium, which closed in 1997, was on 14th Street near Irving Place... today the space is NYU's Paladium Hall. Revisit the interior here. Discover more history here via Cinema Treasures.

An audio documentary on CBGB

WBAI is airing a documentary on CBGB, with episode 2 set to air tomorrow (Sunday) at 2 p.m. and another episode scheduled for Sept. 28. 

Visit this WBAI link for info. 

Jillian Jonas, senior producer of WBAI's public affairs show and a former CBGB employee, is spearheading the project.

The CBGB Festival takes place next Saturday in Brooklyn with headliner Iggy Pop.

Noted

Thanks to Sonya for the photo outside Tompkins Square Park today... background here if you really want to know.

Fury road

 

Something to Consume, the first record from Die Spitz, a quartet from Austin, Texas, is out now. 

The video here is "Riding With My Girls." 

See Die Spitz live at Bowery Ballroom on Nov. 18.

The Lou Reed Mosaic Bandit of St. Mark’s returns

As we reported earlier this week, two men used a ladder early Monday morning to remove Invader's nearly 10-year-old Lou Reed mosaic from the upper floor of 110 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

Residents called 911 and later contacted the 9th Precinct. Neighbors linked one of the suspects to a similar Invader mosaic theft above Ralph's Famous Italian Ices on Avenue A and Ninth Street last summer.

Invader himself has condemned these rip-offs, noting that once pried from the wall, the tiles are worthless. 

Now comes a stranger twist: on Tuesday night around 11, a neighbor says the same suspect returned ... this time to chip away at the few scraps of tile still clinging to the wall.

"The tapping on the wall woke us up," the resident said. 

Half-asleep, they fumbled for a photo, but the flash went off, ruining their chance to stay hidden.

A call to 911 followed, but the thief managed to slip away with the remaining tiles. 

An array of Invader's mosaics arrived in NYC and the East Village, some in collaboration with the LISA Project, in 2015.

Key Food painting gets scooped up — by a member of the Key Food family

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Price check complete! 

Local artist Steve Cosentino's oil painting of the Key Food on Avenue A and Fourth Street has already found a buyer — a Key Food administrator who saw our Aug. 30 post and immediately reached out to the artist. 

The painting will eventually hang uptown at the Met in the buyer's home (he's letting his wife pick the matting and frame).

We're a little bummed it won't be displayed at the store itself, so we could enjoy it while listening to, say,  Mike + the Mechanics and Richard Marx on the Key PA. 

But we're glad that it's staying in the Key family.

Cosentino said plenty of neighbors stopped by while he worked to say how much they love the Key. 

He also revealed that he will be painting a few more East Village cornerscapes in the future.

Noted

EVG reader Jennifer Toth found this special delivery on the sidewalk today... an envelope marked "Do not open till 2039." Hopefully, the letter will arrive by then.

Community gardens take center stage during 14th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival

The 14th annual LUNGS Harvest Arts Festival starts tomorrow night (Friday, Sept. 19). 

This year's festival, which runs through Sept. 28, features more than 50 events at 30 East Village/LES community gardens. Each garden hosts various performances, concerts, workshops, and other related events. Visit the LUNGS website here for the daily, garden-by-garden schedule. 

The opening night event at La Plaza Cultural on the southwest corner of Avenue C and Ninth Street begins at 6:30 p.m. with music by Felice Rosner and FAITH NYC, followed later by Sylvain LaRoux's Source.

Bunny’s Dub Club brought old-school vibes to the East Village

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Last Friday night (Sept. 12), Jezenia Romero (below), artist, musician, and founder of Bunny Jr. Tapes, hosted Bunny's Dub Club, a late-night dance party with a uniquely old-school feel.

The idea is inspired by the classic 1980s downtown tradition: post-club crowds heading into Odessa on Avenue A for late-night eats. The concept here — what if that same Odessa crowd could throw a party inside the restaurant itself? 

The answer on Friday was dub, reggae, post-punk, no wave, synth wave, mutant disco, and rock 'n' roll. Bunny Jr. opened, followed by TM8 (below, the Pyramid Club legend who DJ'd there for nearly four decades), with Tony Price closing the night.

Romero launched Bunny Jr. Tapes in 2015, a label that has released more than 86 cassette tapes, worked with over 54 musicians and visual artists, and curated screenings, performances, exhibitions, and festivals.

Bunny's Dub Club feels like a natural extension of that restless, collaborative energy. Press notes described it as "a dance party inspired by the classic 1980s downtown post-club, late-night Odessa meals." 

For the night, Romero even rented the back space at Superiority Burger, the business to take over after Odessa (the newer of the two spaces) in the spring of 2023. 

And for a few hours, there was a throwback vibe in the air, with even smartphones put away.

It came close to Romero's vision for such a night: "As I looked around, I saw visions of Lou Reed, ESG, DNA, Public Image Ltd., and an excellently dressed crowd dancing across the entire restaurant — crammed into booths, stomping on the dance floor."

The Marshal takes legal possession of Casa Bond on the Bowery

The Marshal has taken possession of the retail space, currently Casa Bond, at 334 Bowery between Bond and Great Jones. 

The legal notice, dated yesterday, states that the landlord is now in legal possession of the storefront...

As always, this doesn't mean the end for the business. 

There isn't any mention of a closure, temporary or otherwise, on the upscale Mexican restaurant's website or social media. And they are still accepting reservations. 

Casa Bond opened on Nov. 1, 2023. At the time, a restaurant rep told us that they were "inspired by Tulum's culture of young, artistic, fun-loving people who are passionate about having a good time, Bohemian chic style, and high-quality dining." 

No. 334 has been home to 11 (!!) restaurants since 2014, as we noted here. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• Is 334 Bowery now officially a doomed location for restaurants?

Openings: H Art on 3rd Avenue

H Art opened last week at 45 Third Ave. at 10th Street (the SE corner). 

This is the third outpost in NYC for the "K-beauty store ... obsessed with what's trending in Seoul." 

The store is next to H Mart, and they are owned by the same company. 

Hours: Daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

With this addition, H Mart will be the sole retail client in the block-long base of NYU's Alumni Hall. 

The corner spot became available earlier last year when Lois Cleaners moved a block north between 11th Street and 12th Street.

These are the set times for the CBGB Festival on Sept. 27

Organizers yesterday released the set times for the CBGB Festival, taking place Sept. 27 at Under the K Bridge Park in Brooklyn 

Presented with The Bowery Presents, the one-day festival will feature 21 bands, including headliners Iggy Pop and Jack White.

The gates open at 3 p.m. (rain or shine) with three stages ... and you need to hustle once inside because the music starts at 3:15. 

Find ticket info and FAQs here. 

In May 2024, EVG talked with Captain Sensible of the Damned before a show at the Manhattan Center... the Damned will be on the main stage at the CBGB Festival.

Here's a Q&A flashback to a discussion on CBGB: 

In April 1977, the Damned played four nights at CBGB — the first UK punk band to do so. One CBGB superfan remembered your April 8 set this way: "They were aggressive, and the singer wore big black eye makeup, Captain Sensible wore a nurse's outfit. They were polished pandemonium. They didn't hang out afterward as most of the NY bands did." 

What do you recall about those shows? Any trepidation at the time about playing in a club that was quickly gaining a punk reputation? 

We couldn’t hang around 'cause after our performance, the club chucked everybody out, including us, and started sound-checking for a second show on the same day. We'd never experienced that in the UK, but New York is full of bars, so we just found the nearest and carried on there. 

The Damned at the time were like a gang — we had no respect for anyone. The drinking and chaos would get out of hand quite often. I can remember getting thrown out of four Paris hotels in one night. I believe we threw quite a few insults at the sedate CBGB audience and got some abuse back, but any reaction was better than NO reaction, so that was all good. 

Seeing what has become of CBGB is tragic, though... how short-sighted of city bigwigs not to keep the place running as a venue — it'd be a shrine to punk rock for fans the world over who would flock to NY to see where it all began.

CBGB closed at 315 Bowery in October 2006.

Once a garage, now a rising condoplex on 9th Street

The former Little Man Parking garage (aka LaSalle Parking) at 220 E. Ninth St., between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, is steadily climbing toward its luxury future. 

As these photos from this week show, workers are now on the fourth floor of the conversion. (H/T EVG reader Terry Howell!)

The former craggly garage is being remade into an 18-unit condoplex billed as "blending classic Downtown loft architecture and industrial-chic details with modern luxury."

The Tribeca-inspired amenity list features a 24-hour attended lobby, sauna, fitness center with Pilates studio, pet-grooming station, and a Japanese-style garden. 

The garage closed in April 2023 after the Department of Buildings issued a vacate order on the property following the deadly collapse at the Little Man garage on Ann Street in the Financial District. 

The address was offered as a "redevelopment project" in August 2023. 

 Budget Car Rental and Tori-Bien, a restaurant that specialized in Japanese fried chicken, were also forced to leave their retail spaces at this address. 

Our previous post has renderings of the new building.

And it's another reminder that the ongoing conversion of neighborhood workaday spaces into luxury housing isn't a fad.

Gloves on: Pitch in during Community Stewardship days underway at East River Park

The LES Ecology Center is now hosting Community Stewardship Days at East River Park Fire Boat House every Monday and Friday morning through the end of the season. 

Details via the EVG inbox: 

Where: Meet on the steps leading to the Fire Boat House 

What: Help clean up the park, remove invasive species, and beautify the area 

Why: A chance to give back, enjoy the outdoors, and make a positive impact in the neighborhood 

No experience is necessary, just bring enthusiasm. We’ll provide gloves, tools, first aid, and guidance.

Hours: 8:30-11:30 a.m. 

Sign up at this link.

A spokesperson told EVG in an email: "Although we hope to return fully to East River Park in 2027, we are committed to continuing stewardship of this beloved space until then and beyond." 

The LES Ecology Center is currently operating out of Seward Park. The historic Fire Boat House, located between the Williamsburg Bridge and Corlears Hook in the newly reopened sections of East River Park, is currently unoccupied, its future unknown. 

The "phased work operations" in East River Park began in November 2021 within Project Area 1, situated between Montgomery Street and 15th Street. Workers have been covering the park with fill and cutting down hundreds of trees as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency project. They are elevating the land 8 to 10 feet above sea level to protect the area from future storm surges.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• A look inside the former Fireboat House in East River Park as it faces an uncertain future

Signage alert: M&M Bagels on 1st Avenue

Photo by Steven 

Signage is up now for M&M Bagels at 186 First Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street.

It’s unclear whether this spot is connected to the other M&M Bagels in the metropolitan area. We found one in Islip Terrace and another in Astoria. The logos suggest otherwise. 

M&M takes over the space from Lilly's Shakes & Crepes, which never actually opened after a spring 2024 signage alert. 

Anyway, good luck to the owners — there is stiff bagel competition around here ..